''Year Million'' is a six-part documentary and

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

television series produced by

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...

, which premiered on May 15, 2017, on their channel. The series received two

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

nominations, including a Primetime Emmy for its narrator

Laurence Fishburne Laurence John Fishburne III (born July 30, 1961) is an American actor. Throughout his career, he has gained recognition for his roles on stage and screen as militant and authoritative characters. List of awards and nominations received by Laur ...

. The series is based on the 2008 book ''Year Million: Science at the Far Edge of Knowledge'' by

Damien Broderick Damien Francis Broderick (22 April 1944 – 19 April 2025) was an Australian science fiction and popular science writer and editor of some 74 books. ''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'' credits him with the first usage of the term ''virtual ...

. The narrative alternates between a story set in the future about a family of three and 2016 interviews that explain the events unfolding in the story. The series was filmed in Budapest.

Synopsis

Investigating the ramifications of a variety of potentially world-changing inventions, the series visits a cast of characters representing a typical American family in several different possible timelines.

Ray Kurzweil Raymond Kurzweil ( ; born February 12, 1948) is an American computer scientist, author, entrepreneur, futurist, and inventor. He is involved in fields such as optical character recognition (OCR), speech synthesis, text-to-speech synthesis, spee ...

Michio Kaku Michio Kaku (; ; born January 24, 1947) is an American theoretical physicist, Science communication, science communicator, futurologist, and writer of popular-science. He is a professor of theoretical physics at the City College of New York and ...

Peter Diamandis Peter H. Diamandis ( ; born May 20, 1961) is an American engineer, physician, and entrepreneur. He is best known as the founder and chairman of the XPRIZE Foundation, and the cofounder and executive chairman of Singularity University. He is ...

and

Brian Greene Brian Randolph Greene (born February 9, 1963) is an American physicist known for his research on string theory. He is a professor of physics and mathematics at Columbia University, director of its center for theoretical physics, and the cha ...

guide the documentary aspect, discussing possible changes the future might hold based on their research: Artificial Intelligence, Man merging with Machine, the human species becoming an interplanetary entity. Exploring life in both the near and the far future, where artificial intelligence is ubiquitous and advances in science have radically extended our lifespans. The series aims to show that communication, work and education will be revolutionized through virtual telepathy.

Accolades

The series' narrator,

, was nominated for a Primetime

, with a further Craft Emmy Nomination for Outstanding Lighting Direction and Scenic Design.

Cast

Each episode of the series is broken up into first narrated scenes, then interviews with scientists and futurologists; the docudrama segments fit around the interviews and narration to illustrate how technological changes might impact a regular family. *

as Narrator

Interviews

Drama

Vinette Robinson Vinette Robinson (born 1981) is a British actress. She won a British Independent Film Award for her performance in the film ''Boiling Point'' (2021), a role she reprised in its spinoff series. On television, she is known for her roles in the B ...

- Eva *

Reece Ritchie Reece Ritchie (born 23 July 1986) is an English actor. He is known for his film roles, such as Moha in ''10,000 BC'' (2008), Bis in '' Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time'' (2010), and Iolaus in ''Hercules'' (2014). He starred as Jay in the Bri ...

- Oscar *

Dinita Gohil Dinita Gohil is a British actress. She is best known for her performance as Amanda in the satirical film '' Greed'' (2019), and on-stage as Viola in the Royal Shakespeare Company production of '' Twelfth Night'' (2017–2018). Early life Dini ...

- Sajani *

Olive Gray Olive Grant (born 3 December 1994), known professionally as Olive Gray, is a British actor. They first gained prominence through their role in the CBBC series '' Half-Moon Investigations'' (2009). They have since starred in the Paramount+ series ...

- Jess *Joe Corrigall - Damon *Siobahn Dillon - Mother *Miklós Bányai - Newscaster

Episodes

References

External links

* {{National Geographic TV 2017 American television series debuts 2017 American television series endings 2010s American documentary television series 2010s American science fiction television series American English-language television shows Documentary films about science Documentary films about outer space Documentary television series about technology National Geographic (American TV channel) original programming Science education television series Documentary television shows about evolution